SEPT. 26, 2024 – A Florida federal judge has granted the fee request of national retailer Big Lots against Spencer Sheehan, a prolific false advertising plaintiff's lawyer.
In a decision yesterday, Judge Gregory A. Presnell awarded Big Lots more than $144,000 in fees, the full "lodestar" amount requested. Dismissing Sheehan's objections to the award, the judge found Davis Wright Tremaine LLP had "provided ample support for the hours it has spent litigating this class action lawsuit, which had the potential to cause its client serious financial and reputational harm."
The Big Lots defense team was led by Jacob Harper, co-chair of DWT's class action defense and food + beverage groups, with support from attorneys Heather Canner, Joseph Elie-Meyers, Caitlyn Cowan, and Emily Parsons.
The award follows a July decision, in which Judge Presnell dismissed Sheehan's complaint, challenging the serving-size information on certain ground-coffee containers sold at Big Lots, as "patently implausible." At that time, Judge Presnell also agreed to award fees against Sheehan personally, finding he should be sanctioned for his misconduct in the case.
The fee award adds to the DWT team's track record of success defending food and beverage companies and retailers against a range of consumer false advertising class actions, as well as the group's ongoing success obtaining early dismissals—as well as practice-stopping sanctions and deterrence from future suits—against Sheehan in particular.
In the decision yesterday, Judge Presnell highlighted the benefit of DWT's extensive record handling cases opposite Sheehan: "Sheehan submitted bad faith filings here, made incredulous allegations, and pursued meritless claims—all which might have led to delays and significantly higher expenses from attorneys unfamiliar with Sheehan's litigation style."
Quoting from the defense team's fee motion, the judge stated that Big Lots "plainly benefitted from the 'particularly effective and efficient' representation of its counsel in this matter."
About Davis Wright Tremaine
Davis Wright Tremaine LLP is an AmLaw 100 law firm with more than 600 lawyers representing clients based throughout the United States and around the world. Learn more at www.dwt.com.